Lock Haven University raises money for student retention

Lock Haven, PA - November 20, 2018

Shown, from left, are Jocelyn and Nick Hawrylchak, Broken Axe Brew House owners, and
Robert Pignatello, Lock Haven University president.

Lock Haven University President, Robert Pignatello, sang more than 40 soft-rock classics
at the Broke Axe Brew House in Lock Haven on Friday, November 16, helping to raise
more than $6,000 for the university’s Student Retention Fund.

“We lose far too many students, often times over just a couple hundred dollars, which
for most families in this area can be a lot of money,” Pignatello said. “The Student
Retention Fund will help keep these students here at Lock Haven.”

The newly established Student Retention Fund will provide emergency money for students
experiencing financial hardships. It is designed to help ensure freshman will be able
to return for their sophomore year.

Broken Axe owners, Nick and Jocelyn Hawrylchak, are both Lock Haven University graduates.
Nick shared a story with patrons about his father who was unable to complete college,
and instead had to halt his education to work to help support his family.

He said that not obtaining a degree had always been one of his father’s biggest regrets,
and that being able to help raise funds to ensure that Lock Haven University students
would not have to risk their own education over finances was something that he was
very proud to be a part of.

The event, dubbed the “Soft Rock Review,” raised $6,150 in total, including a $500
donation from the Broken Axe. All of the proceeds will be used to help keep students
enrolled at the university, with all of the awarded funds being considered a grant
that recipients will not have to pay back.

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Lock Haven University is a member of Pennsylvania’s State System, the largest provider
of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 2,300
degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas of study. Nearly 520,000
system alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.